November 29, 2012

Christmas is around the corner! And nothing is more exciting than counting down the days for Christmas with an Advent Calendar right?

Keeping the tradition I crafted a new one this year too, for something unique, special and interesting :).

Well, at a first glance, it looks complicated and without much resemblance to an Advent Calendar…

The idea started from those socks I made a couple of years ago (to refresh your memory: each day my daughters would find a paper with an image inside the mini socks showing where I placed the small gift-of-the-day). My oldest daughter is a a first grader now and husband suggested I could make some type of riddle for each day, to practice her reading and calculating skills (yea, we are such nerds…).

So how to do that in a sane way? Inventing a game of course! More like a letter puzzle (hangman anyone?).

2012 Advent Calendar – Letter Puzzle game

Each day my girls will receive one envelope (numbered from 1 to 24) containing a card with a question and a letter-sticker. Simple math problems or matching games to practice letters and words. I added couple of “easy” ones for my 5 yo daughter too.

“How many (snowflakes)?”

“Is the image a : skier, skater or runner?”

“How many syllables are in the word snowman?”

Solving the question of the day will show them where to glue the sticker-letter in the puzzle display board. By completing the diagram they will be capable to read the “mysterious sentence” : The present (the Advent Calendar big gift) is hidden at grandpa´s place (written in Finnish conveniently using 24 elements :)

We thought that getting a “big” gift instead of little small things each day is as well fun. Besides, a “pre” Christmas present is not that bad (stand the wait for Santa!!) and everyone can enjoy it together. The gift is a board game to be played on Christmas Eve ^_^.

And! To deliver the envelopes, a Christmas mailbox I crafted using an empty cereal box and red card stock. Awesome isn´t it? The front door is attached with magnets (Oh… I am so happy with the result!). Maybe my daughters will find some treats there too… who knows? ;)